Land and water vehicle



G. RAlMONDl LAND AND WATER VEHICLE Sept. 14, 1948.

7 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Nov. 30, 1944 INVENTOR Gmetcmo Rolmondl )ITroRNEKSePt- 1948- G. RAlMONDl 2,449,320

LAND AND WATER VEH)ICLE v Filed Nov. 30, 1944 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmvroze.Gaetano Rmmondli ATTORNEK Sept. 14; 1948. e. RAIMONDI I 7 2 LAND ANDWATER VEHICLE I Filed Nov. 30, 1944 v Shee tS-Sheet s ATTORNEY.

Sept. 14, 1948.

' Filed Nov. 30, l944 G. RAIMONDI 2,449,320

LAND AND WATER VEHICLE INVENTOR. Gae, tcmo Rnmbncl i BY ATTORNEY.

Sept. M, 1948. G. RAIMONDI LAND AND WATER VEHICLE 7 Sheets-Sheets FiledNov. 30, 1944 4 IN VEN TOR. Gaetano Rqjmondl ATTORNEY.

Sepia M, 1948. RAIMONDI LAND AND WATER VEHICLE '7 She'ts-Sheet 6 FiledNov. 30, 1944 F .1 5. ll.

INVENTOR 'Gaetar o Roi mond ATTORNEY.

Sept. 14, 1948. RAlMONDl 2,449,320

LAND AND WATER VEHICLE '7 Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed Nov. 30, 1944 INVENTOGaetano Ram'lo ATTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 14, 1948 iir irso s rates PATENT o rrice LAND "WATERVEHICLE 'Gaet'a rro itaimondi, New York, 'N. Y. ApplicaticnNoi/emher 30,1944, Serial N0156'5 865 More specificallmthe :Dresent invention :prov;

poses the construction of a vehicle havingiour w eels forrunn s onancloeach o h Wheels having two opposed paddles for-providing locomotioninwater.

Still further it is proposed to provide a vehicle as aforesaid havingdriving'rnechanism' for the paddles arranged ior intermittent rotationso that while the upperpaddles of each wheel are idle, thetother paddles:(in the bottom) do the propulsionin the water. i

For. further ,comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereofirefl erence will be had to the-following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel .feare of the in n ion a mo e partic lar y s forth.

In the accompanyingdi awings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a si-derelevationo'f. a vehiclecohstructed in accordance withthisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of thevehicle, the front wheels.being-indicatedin .turnediposition in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 3 is an onlargedsection on theline ii-.43 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan viewoftheJfront wheel and paddle assembly of.thevehicle.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectiononthelineI555 of Fig.4, parts beingshowninfull.

Fig. 6 is a section on .thgLline "67.16 of Fig.5.

'F ig. 7 is a section on the line 1+? or" Fi .5.

Fig. 8 is an enlargedperspective viewtaken on the linef8-.-8 oi Fig.5.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a drive cylinder forming part of thedrivin mechanism of the vehicle.

Fig. "10 is a front elevationof theocyiinder of Fig. 9, viewed from theright thereof,

Fig. 11 is an enlarged front elevation of the wheel and paddle device.of the vehicle.

Fig. 1 2 is an enlargedperspective.vievhtalgen on the line l2l2 ofFign5.

Fig/13 is an enlarged perspective view partly in section, taken on theline l'3-..l3 of Fig. 5.

'Fig. 14 isan enlargedelevation of afpadclle, partly in section, asviewed on the.line.l' i-.-.-.M pirigt.

The presentinvention is directed, toward .prcridin a vhiclewhibh ay bednven -on'l n like an automobile and inthe water- Om-land. it runsoniour wheels and in the water it is driven by eight paddles, mountedtwo on each wheel in such away that they do not interfere with thewheels when running onland. iI'he paddles drive by rotation about thewheelz-axis, and further rotate about an .axis perpendicular to thewheel axis to automatically fall into streamline alignmentwith thewheelwhen not driving. The invention has. .bIQaldl application itoamphibious vehicles, but is shown in 13 the. :drawinss y w y ample. to a.combined automobile-boat construction.

The amphibian, vehicle, according to this in.- vention, includes a hullit conformingshape to conventionalmotor boat lines. This hull alsoconstitutes the automobile body when the flighicle is running on land.It includeswwinds d nd saiseat l zIt -alsowill ave on i e p aced in thebe t cs tion fo ilibri m of the vehicle and will'have other desirableJinn nishings and equipment.

T 'v le has two f o ee 13 amitwo rear wheels I3 Iherearwheels H rare d vm a a d n chanis l4 an the iront wheelsware driven from a front driving-mechanism 15. The front wheels l3-can turnin the fashion ofconventionalautomobilewheels. The rear Wheels cannotbesteered. A steering wheel I6is provided forturningthe front wheels-and a control I! is provided foropening and closing a clutch, as Willpresently appear.

The power providing mechanism of the vehicle isnot shown,;as this may be.of any w n -know type with slight modification. For instance, theremay. be an internal combustion engine of the :usual automobiletype.However, eachz of the four Wheels has its ownadrive andthereinretheinternal combustionengine will beconnected ior driving the four Wheels.For instance, the usual drive rod extending from the enginelongitudinally of the vehicle will be provided, with gears on this driverod for driving the ,front Wheels and other gears fordriving therearwheels. lhe drive rod will have theusual universal joint. and otherconstruction. The .present invention is directed toward the drivelmechanism for e ch wheel and toward thesteering mechanism ior the frontwheels.

The w s and We a dentica1=and-om is bestshown in Fig. 11.:EachWheeLhaswa:hard rubber tire 18 supported by swlies MEL fiI heseSpokes are connected to a hqllowadrum 20,-:shown in. Figs. band 11,which is-arfrontywheel drive ass m l ge. A shaft or axle 21 1's secured:toiithis drum and extends inwardly therefrom, having a miter gear 22 atits inner end. The portion of the shaft in the drum is hexagonal and ablock 23' is secured thereon. Two opposed miter gears 23 are mounted inthis block, each secured to a paddle 24, each gear 23 having a shaft 25form ing a stem of the paddle. Each paddle is journalled at its outerend in the rim of the wheel adjacent the rubber tire ill. The paddlesare in a diametral plane of the wheel and are adapted to be disposed inthe plane of the wheel when the vehicle is on land and to be locked inthis position by chains secured to hooks on the rim. When in water, thepaddles rotate with the shafts 25 and they are synchronized so that thetop paddle will be in the plane of the wheel, streamlining the toppaddle so that it offers no water resistance while the bottom paddlewill be at right angles thereto and will form the motive device fordriving the boat. As the bottom paddle travels upwardly, it will rotateuntil it gets into the plane of the wheel and as the top paddle travelsdownwardly it will rotate until it gets into a plane at right angles tothe plane of the wheel. I

The hull (chassis) is mounted by springs 26 to a housing 21 extendingtransversely of the hull It]. At the center of this housing there is ahousing 28 connected to the housing 21 by Webs 29. Steering wheel I6 hasa shaft 3| with a portion 33 in housing .28 (see Fig. 4) having a mitergear 34 at its inner end which drives a miter gear 35 which turns ashaft 36 journalled in housing 28. Shaft 36 is connected to one end of along casing 31 extended in the housing 21. Housing 21 terminates at eachof its ends in a large box 38 permitting the casings 31 to swing aboutpivots at their inner ends. One of these pivots is the shaft 36 and theother pivots are other shafts similar to shaft 36. The two top shaftsare connected by a chain drive and the two bottom shafts are connectedby a chain drive, see Fig. 5. Roller 39 secured to the top and bottomwalls of casings 31 rollably support the outer ends of casing 31 inboxes 38. When casings 31 pivot, the wheels turn, as the wheels arerotatably mounted on the casings, as will presently appear. Thus thefront wheels can be turned by the steering wheel l6 in much the samemanner as the front wheels of an automobile can be turned. The rearwheels do not have this steering mechanism as they, similar toautomobile wheels, can not be steered.

'The drive for rotating the front wheels will now be described. Asaforesaid, the wheels include a hub or drum 20 which is mounted on theshaft 2| having a miter gear 22 at its inner end. Rotation of this shaftwill rotate the wheel. This shaft may be driven in any desired mannerand connected up with an internal combustion engine of the vehicle inany desired manner. The shaft 2| is shown in Fig. geared, by means ofits gear 22 to a miter gear 46, on the shaft 4| journalled in casing 31and therefore adapted to-move therewith so that the wheels are rotatedeven when in a turned position. Shaft 4| has a sprocket 42 connected bya chain 43 to a sprocket 44 on a shaft 45 journalled in housing 28. Thisshaft 45 will be the shaft connected up with the source of power. As maybe seen, shaft 45 is in the same axial position as the adjacent bottomshaft 35 and'therefore shaft 36 is loosely mounted (telescoped) on shaft45. There are four shafts 36, the vertically aligned pairs each forminga pivot for the correlated casing 31. While only one shaft 45 has beendescribed it will be understood that 4 there is a shaft 45 on each sideof the longitudinal center line of the vehicle.

The usual clutch, transmission etc. will be provided for connectingshafts 45 with the internal combustion engine. Each of the rear wheelsare similar to the front wheel and have the paddles 24, the drum 20, theshaft 2| and the mechanism connecting up shaft 2| with rear drive shafts5. Therefore no further description thereof is deemed necessary.

There remains to be described the operating mechanism for the paddles.All eight paddles are controlled from the same source, which is thecontrol l1. This control has a Wheel H which, when rotated, turns a gear46, the wheel being geared (not shown) to a rod 41 geared to gear 46.Gear 46 is mounted on a shaft 48 having sprocket 49 connected by a chain56 to two sprockets 5|, one for each casing 31. In other words, sprocket49 is midway between sprockets 5| and is secured thereto by a commonchain.

Sprocket-s 5| are each secured on a shaft 52. Each shaft 52 has a mitergear 53 at its bottom in mesh with a miter gear 54 of aworm shaft 55.Worm shaft 55 i at one side of the shaft 2| and similar w-orm shaft 56is at the other side. "This shaft 56 is driven from shaft 52 by a chain51 connecting a sprocket 58 on a shaft 52 and'a sprocket 56 on a shaft69 geared by bevel gears to shaft 56.

Worms 66' are mounted on shafts 55 and 56, and each meshe with a rack 6|formed on the outside of a cylinder 62 mounted in a housing 63.

secured in casing 31, shaft 2| passing through cylinder 62. Cylinder 62is best shown in Fig. 9. It has oil holes and top and bottomlongitudinal tongues 64 sliding in grooves 65 formed in the housing 63.A lantern gear 66 is secured to the front end of cylinder 62. Theracks'6! of the cylinder extend through slots 61 in the housing 63.

Casing 31 has a front wall provided with a cam 68, best shown in Fig.12. Rotation of control wheel |1' when the mechanism is in the positionshown in Fig. 5, rotates the worms 66, drawing the cylinder 62 inwardlyand pulling the lantern gear out of mesh with gears 66 (see Fig. 8)which it drives. The gears 66 are each secured to a shaft 10 which has akey way for synchronizing the gears mounted on it and each shaft 16 hasa miter gear 1| in engagement with one of the paddle gears 23. Thus asthe wheels rotate, gears 69 run ,around the lantern gears, turning thepaddles, but when the lantern gears are diseng-aged from the gears 69,rotation of the wheels does not aifect rotation of the paddles.Consequently, the lantern gears and gears 69 will be in mesh in waterand out of mesh on land, the lantern gear forming a clutch. Rotation ofthe wheels also rotates the drum 26 relative to the cam 68. Each drum 20has a slide 12 mounted on its top and bottom faces, which are flat. Eachslide has a roller 13 engaging the cam and springs 14 urging the rollerinto such engagement. A dog 15 is connected to each slide and each dogis adapted to coact with a gear 23 so that when the rollers ride on thecam low parts, the dogs engage the gears and lock them but when therollers ride ,on the high part, the dogs are disengaged from the gears23. A wing nut bolt 13, passing through the outer face of the drum 26,may be employed for holding the springs 14 compressed and the roller 13in neutral or inoperative position, the Wing nut bolt controlling a forkfor retracting the slide. Each of the paddles has a two part centershaft 16 (Fig. 14) connected by a turnbuckle eiitoiiaebne, That 15, 112;engine is exert gene i drder' t move the lantern gears "mad 6r 611i; 6fmesh with their gea'rsfifl. The Iante'rfi gears "are jga'fiibhaiy andthe Wheels" rotating with the geais e9 m i'nsh with the stabiohafyl-ant'e'rh gear ,f'-'

facts rotation of the gears 69 and t urning df he erearrgzige Sb(7.1951: the

Whi Bel-fig eseemieny was! the din . fir; eLi plu mg gears' in th-ehubnfitseaid wheel rotating same, and means gearing said paddles to saiddrive shafts for rotating said paddles about said perpendicular axes.

3. An amphibian vehicle for use on both land and in the water comprisinga hull, two front wheels connected to said hull, two rear wheelsconnected to said hull, each of said front wheels having a tire, a hub,spokes connecting said tire and hub, and two opposed paddles journalledto said tire and hub in a diametrical plane perpendicular to the axis ofsaid wheel, said paddles being bodily rotatable with said wheel androtatable about an axis perpendicular to said wheel axis, and drivingand steering mechanism for said front wheels, including a transversehousing spanning the sides of said hull, a central housing rigidlysecured in said transverse housing, two casings extending in oppositedirections from said central housing and each pivotally secured at itsinner end to the adjacent end of said central housing and connected atits opposite end to the adjacent of said front wheels, a steering wheelgeared to said casings for pivoting same for turning said front wheels,drive shafts journalled in said casings and connected to said wheels forrotating same, and means for rotating said paddles about saidperpendicular axes, including a lantern gear in each of said casings anda gear train connecting each of said paddles with the adjacent lanterngear.

4. An amphibian vehicle for use on both land and in the water comprisinga hull, two front wheels connected to said hull, two rear wheelsconnected to said hull, each of said front wheels having a tire, a hub,spokes connecting said tire and hub, and two opposed paddles journalledto said tire and hub in a diametrical plane perpendicular to the axis ofsaid wheel, said paddles being bodily rotatable with said wheel androtatable about an axis perpendicular to said wheel axis, and drivingand steering mechanism for said front wheels, including a transversehousing spanning the sides of said hull, a central housing rigidlysecured in said transverse housing, two casings extending in oppositedirections from said central housing and eachpivotally secured at itsinner end to the adjacent end of said central housing and connected atits opposite end to the adjacent of said front wheels, a steering wheelgeared to said casings for pivoting same for turning said front wheels,drive shafts journalled in said casings and connected to said wheels forrotating same and means for rotating said paddles about saidperpendicular axes, including a lantern gear in each of said casings anda gear train connecting each of said paddles with the adjacent lanterngear, and means for withdrawing said lantern gear from engagement withits correlated paddle gear trains.

5. An amphibian vehicle for use on both land and in the water comprisinga hull, two front wheels connected to saidhull, two rear wheelsconnected to said hull, .each of said front wheels having a tire, a hub,spokes connecting said tire and hub, and two opposed paddles journalledto said tire and hub in a diametrical plane perpendicular to the axis ofsaid wheel, said paddles being bodily rotatable with said wheel androtatable about an axis perpendicular to said wheel axis, and drivingand steering mechanism for said front wheels, including a transversehousing spanning the sides of said hull, a central housing rigidlysecured in said transverse housing, two casings extending in oppositedirections from said central housing and each pivotally secured at itsinner end to the adjacent end of said central housing and connected atits opposite end to the adjacent of said front wheels, a steering wheelgeared to said casings for pivoting same for turning said front wheels,drive shafts journalled in said casings and connected to said wheels forroe tating same, and means for rotating said paddles about saidperpendicular axes including a cylinder mounted in each of said'casingshaving a lantern gear, gears connected to each of said paddles, and agear train connecting each of said paddle gears with the adjacentlantern gear.

6. An amphibian vehicle for use on both land and in the water comprisinga hull, two front wheels connected to said hull, two rear wheelsconnected to said hull, each of said front wheels having a tire, a hub,spokes connecting said tire and hub, and two opposed paddles journalledto said tire and hub in a diametrical plane perpendicular to the axis ofsaid wheel, said paddles being bodily rotatable with said wheel androtatable about an axis erpendicular to said wheel axis, and driving andsteering mechanism for said front wheels, including a transverse housingspanning the sides of said hull, a central housing rigidly secured insaid transverse housing, two casings extending in opposite directionsfrom said central housing and each pivotally secured at its inner end tothe adjacent end of said central housing and connected at its oppositeend to the adjacent of said front wheels, a steering wheel geared tosaid casings for pivoting same for turning said front wheels, driveshafts journalled in said casings and connected to said wheelsforlrotating same, and means for rotating said paddles about saidperpendicular axes including a cylinder mounted in each of said casingshaving a lantern gear, gears connected to each of said paddles, and agear train connecting each of said paddle gears, with the adjacentlantern gear, and clutch means for moving said lantern gears out ofengagement with said gear trains including worms, a control for rotatingsaid worms and a rack on each of said cylinders for the adjacent worm.

7. An amphibian vehicle for use on both land and in the water comprisinga hull, two front wheels connected to said hull, two rear wheelsconnected to said hull, each of said front wheels having a tire, a hub,spokes connecting said tire and hub, and two opposed paddles journalledto said tire and hub in diametrical plane perpendicular to the axis ofsaid wheel, said paddles being bodily rotatable with said wheel androtatable about an axis perpendicular to said wheel axis, and drivingand steering mechanism for said housing and each pivotally secured atits inner end to the adjacent end of said central housing and connectedat its opposite end to the adjacent of said front wheels, a steeringwheel geared to said casings for pivoting same for turning said frontwheels, drive shafts journalled in said casings and connected to saidwheels for rotating same, and means for rotating saidpaddles about saidperpendicular axes including a 7 cylinder mounted in each of saidcasings having a lantern gear, gears connected to each of said paddles,and a gear train connecting each of said paddle gears with the adjacentlantern gear, and clutch means for moving said lantern gears out ofengagement with said gear trains including worms, a control saidcylinders for the adjacent worm, and means for locking said paddlesagainst rotation about said perpendicular axes including a cam on eachof said casings and a slidable dog controlled by said cam for each ofsaid paddle gears.

8. An amphibian vehicle for use on both land and in the water comprisinga hull, two front wheels connected to said hull, two rear wheelsconnected to said hull, each of said front wheels having a tire, a hub,spokes connecting said tire and hub, and two opposed paddles journalledto said tire and hub in a diametrical plane perpendicular to the axis ofsaid wheel, said paddles being bodily rotatable with said wheel androtatable about an axis perpendicular to said wheel axis, and drivingand steering mechanism for said front wheels, including a. transversehousing spanning the sides of said hull, a central housing rigidlysecured in said transverse housing, two casings extending in oppositedirections from 10 said central housing and each pivotally secured atits inner end to the adjacent end of said central housing and connectedat its opposite end to the adjacent of said front wheels, rollers onsaid casing engaging said transverse housing, a steering wheel geared tosaid casings for pivoting same for turning said front wheels, driveshafts journalled in said casings and, connected to said wheels forrotating same, and means gearing said paddles to said drive shafts forrotating said paddles about said perpendicular axes.

GAEIANO RAIMONDI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 904,998 Richter Nov. 24, 19081,752,200 Raimondi Mar. 25, 1930

